Metastable orthorhombic phase of AgInS2 nanocrystals with various shapes, including particles, rods, and worms, have been obtained to demonstrate a facile and effective one-pot chemical route for the synthesis of high quality I-III-VI2 ternary semiconductor nanocrystals (AgInS2, CuInS2, AgInSe2) with controllable shape and size.

Quick folding of a long RNA strand using short DNA staple strands (at a 1 : 1 ratio) into various pre-designed nanostructures in high yields has been demonstrated.

The photoelectric properties of individual Ag2S nanowire devices are investigated after pure Ag2S nanowires are obtained by a simple, economical, and low‐ temperature wet route. Their excellent performances (see figure) make these Ag2S nanowires ‐ with high aspect ratios and perfect monocrystallinity ‐ promising candidates for photoswitches and room‐temperature oxygen sensors.

RNA nanotechnology promises rational design of RNA nanostructures with wide array of structural diversities and functionalities. Such nanostructures could be used in applications such as small interfering RNA delivery and organization of in vivo chemical reactions. Though having impressive development in recent years, RNA nanotechnology is still quite limited and its programmability and complexity could not rival the degree of its closely related cousin: DNA nanotechnology. Novel strategies are needed for programmed RNA self-assembly. Here, we have assembled RNA nanocages by re-engineering a natural, biological RNA motif: the packaging RNA of phi29 bacteriophage. The resulting RNA nanostructures have been thoroughly characterized by gel electrophoresis, cryogenic electron microscopy imaging and dynamic light scattering.

Synthesis of tubular nanomaterials has become a prolific area of investigation due to their wide range of applications. A facile solution-based method has been designed to fabricate uniform Bi 2 S 3 nanotubes with average size of 20 nm × 160 nm using only bismuth nitrate (Bi(NO 3 ) 3 ·5H 2 O) and sulfur powder (S) as the reactants and octadecylamine (ODA) as the solvent. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) experiments were employed to characterize the resulting Bi 2 S 3 nanotubes and the classic rolling mechanism was applied to explain their formation process.